§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the present prison population holds a citizenship other than that of the United Kingdom and Colonies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-British subjects are currently serving terms of imprisonment in the United Kingdom; and what would be the savings to public funds if these persons were transferred to prison in their own countries.
§ Mr. MayhewInformation is not recorded centrally on the nationality of persons serving sentences of imprisonment in prison department establishments in England and Wales. However, of the 28,300 prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment on 31 January 1982, about 3,100 were known to have been born outside the United Kingdom and for about 1,000 their country of birth was not known; some of these persons will be citizens of the. United Kingdom and Colonies. It is not possible to quantify the savings which would result if it were possible to transfer to their own countries all of those who were possible to transfer to their own countries all of those who were not citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. However, the saving would be much less than the average cost of maintaining that number of prisoners in prison department establishments in England and Wales, and against any saving would have to be set the additional costs arising from repatriation.